A large majority of users of user devices in emerging markets, as well as a growing number of users in North America and Europe possess prepaid accounts with telecommunication carriers, for example, AT&T Inc., Verizon Communications Inc., Vodafone Group Plc, MTN Group, Orange, Bharti Airtel Limited, etc. Some users, hereinafter referred to as “calling parties”, run out of credit for communication in their prepaid accounts with the telecommunication carriers. As used herein, “calling party” refers to a user who wants to contact a called party by placing a call to the called party or by sending a message to the called party. Also, as used herein, “called party” refers to a user who is a recipient or an intended recipient of a call placed by a calling party or a message sent by the calling party using a calling party device. Moreover, these calling parties may run out of credit at a time or a place where they do not have an easy access to recharge their prepaid accounts with credit for communication. Furthermore, when the calling parties do not possess sufficient credit for data communication over a data network of the telecommunication carriers, the calling parties are unable to communicate over the data network, for example, using voice over internet protocol (VoIP) calls, instant messaging services using the internet, etc. Furthermore, some user devices do not possess capabilities for data communication to allow communication over other data networks, for example, a free Wi-Fi® hotspot that implements Wi-Fi® of Wi-Fi Alliance Corporation. This leaves the calling parties in a situation where they cannot communicate even for urgent needs, for example, by placing a call, sending a short message service (SMS) message, etc.
A missed call is a voice call attempt by a calling party to a called party that is not answered by the called party. Since charging for a voice call starts when the called party answers the call, there is no charge to the calling party or the called party for a missed call. Even though missed calls to a number are free, if a calling party does not have credit for communication in a prepaid account, the calling party using a calling party device is unable to place a missed call. Moreover, the calling party using the calling party device needs to have credit in a prepaid account to send a short message service (SMS) message to a called party device since the calling party will be charged for sending the SMS message as soon as the SMS message is sent from the calling party device, irrespective of whether the SMS message is delivered to the called party device.
Consider a typical scenario where a user is unable to communicate due to lack of credit in his/her mobile prepaid account. In this scenario, the user arrives home from a trip and attempts to call or send a short message service (SMS) message to a partner from a mobile device, but is unable to communicate as he/she does not have sufficient credit for communication in his/her mobile prepaid account. In the meantime, the partner is expecting to receive a call or an SMS message from the user and wonders why the user has not contacted yet. If the user is able to place a missed call or send a callback SMS message to the partner, the partner, on receiving an alert about the missed call or the callback SMS message, can contact the user to connect and complete communication with the user. Hence, there is a need for a method and a system for sending a callback notification, for example, a missed call or a callback SMS message from a calling party device to a called party device in the absence of credit or due to insufficient credit for communication in a calling party's prepaid account.
In another scenario, when the calling party has prepaid credit for communication in a prepaid account or a postpaid billing account but does not have a facility to place a call or send a short message service (SMS) message to an international number, the calling party is unable to contact the international number. In yet another scenario, the calling party device has prepaid credit for communication in a prepaid account or a postpaid billing account but the calling party does not want to place a paid call to another number and would instead like to place a missed call that will be free. The calling party cannot be sure that the call will not be charged though the calling party only wants to place a missed call. For example, if the called party picks up the call before the calling party terminates the call, the calling party will be charged. Hence, there is a need for a method and a system that ensures that the call placed is a missed call and not a paid call.
Furthermore, with a choice of telecommunication carriers available for selection by prospective customers, the telecommunication carriers look for ways to improve customer satisfaction and customer retention. Furthermore, telecommunication carriers constantly upgrade services and offer new services for generating incremental revenue from the customers. Hence, there is a need for a method and a system that generate incremental revenue from customers of telecommunication carriers. Furthermore, there is a need for improving satisfaction and retention of customers of the telecommunication carriers.
Therefore, there is a long felt need for a method and a system for sending one or more callback notifications, for example, a missed call ring alert, a callback short message service (SMS) message, and other types of callback notifications, for example, a callback client push notification, a callback network initiated unstructured supplementary service data (USSD) push notification, a callback wireless internet browser push notification, a callback subscriber identity module push notification, a callback electronic mail, a client application notification, etc., from a source number of a calling party device to a destination number of a called party device in the absence of credit or due to insufficient credit for communication in an account registered by a network of the calling party. Moreover, there is a need for a method and a system for sending a callback notification, for example, by placing a missed call and/or by sending another callback notification such as an SMS message from any calling party device independent of features available on the calling party device. While conventional systems may allow calling parties to notify a called party by other means such as dialing a USSD code, but require the calling parties to be aware of such a service, there is a need for a method and a system for automatically detecting attempts made by a calling party device to contact a called party device that are unsuccessful due to absence of credit or insufficient credit for communication in the calling party's account or due to absence of network connectivity between the calling party device and the called party device, and placing a missed call or sending a callback SMS message or another callback notification to the called party device without the calling party initiating the missed call or sending the callback SMS message or other callback notification. Furthermore, there is a need for a method and a system for placing a missed call or sending another callback notification, for example, a callback SMS message to an international number in the absence of an international calling facility. Furthermore, there is a need for a method and a system for ensuring that the call placed is a missed call and not a paid call. Furthermore, there is a need for a method and a system for generating incremental revenue for telecommunication carriers from their customers and improving satisfaction and retention of customers of the telecommunication carriers.